Organized Religion Discussion Thread

[Twin-Skies]

Like Nix has already said, if the artists truly believe in what they did, then they should stand by what they did. It's all anyone could ask for, and like all the others before them, history will be the judge.

They did. They enacted a public event, and used their full name, not hiding behind some anonymous pseudonym. And quite frankly I think you're being sanctimonious by saying the artist should stand her ground and let somebody actually try to kill her. I wouldn't call what she did cowardly. I would call it perfectly understandable.

Which is more than I can say for those sending death threats. They should be held responsible for their act of stupidity, and charged to the fullest extent of the law.

I'm not defending the death threats, either. They're both wrong, and that's what's ugly in this case. But the difference is sharing sex abuses committed by the Catholic Church or exposing the poor treatment of women in Islam (or wherever) is that is what should be done. This is the kind of wrongdoing that should be brought to the fore.

In the case of the Catholic Church, the Vatican and its corresponding parishes actively transferring offending priests from parish to parish to evade the authorities. In the latter, abuse of women, the sharia law as enforced by countries in the middle east, where even being suspected of flirting, not wearing a burkha with men can have you beaten. Saudi Arabia and Iran are solid examples of this, with the latter still deeming certain jobs outright illegal for women.

In short, both atrocities ARE supported by their corresponding religions, as justified by their laws, and criticizing said atrocity will get you getting accused of blasphemy, sacrilege, and other rubbish.

The problem is that depicting Mohammed is that it's a gray area to begin with. Therefore "blasphemy" will immediately be subjective to whoever's looking at the situation.

That's the problem, it's a gray area. Blasphemy is subjective to every religion, and I find it utterly ridiculous that we have to respect every bloody one just because it's a proverbial sacred cow. That is not how the principle of free speech works.

How would you feel if Hindus suddenly said that anybody eating burgers was blasphemous to their religion, and actively sent death threats to anybody who as much as draws a quarter-pounder? Or if Muslims started threatening you at gunpoint for eating bacon?